Istanbul, Turkey

I S T A N B U L

T U R K E Y

Museums, Markets and Mosques! There is a lot to see in Istanbul, which is why we gave ourselves four full days to explore everything it has to offer.

While the sight seeing was great, we spent most of our time eating and drinking our way through the different neighborhoods. We stayed in the old city and were only a short walk to the Blue Mosque, which was the first stop on our list. Next time, we’ll probably choose to stay in one of the trendy neighborhoods, but this was a good central location for our first visit.

After The Blue Mosque, we visited the Sistrens, which is an old Catholic church turned into a Mosque. It was a day full of seeing historic sights and museums.

We needed a break from the mosques and museums, so we decided to take a walk through the park. We relaxed over Turkish tea and people watching before walking over to yet another museum, which was previously a palace lived in by Turkish royalty.

It was finally time to explore the trendy neighborhoods of Istanbul. Our favorites included Karakoy and Kadikoy. There was one cafe and bar after the next and the streets were filled with young people socializing over beer, coffee, and food.

Next we walked over the bridge to watch some fisherman on our way to the grand bazaar. After entering, we realized what we were in for. Hailey got a little claustrophobic at one point and Dan, sticking out as one of the only tall, white guys in the crowd, was bombarded by the store sellers, who were yelling, “Mr. California”, “spend some money on your honey”. After a few minutes, we had to take a time out and duck out of a side entrance. After a quick regroup and Turkish delight, we were ready to go back in!

Istanbul was an amazing city and we wish we had more time to explore it. The shots below are from sunrise on the rooftop of our hotel, a boat tour we took on our last day, and some of our favorite shots from just walking around the city.